Be My Daddy
by xXRottWeilerXx
Summary: The last time he saw Sakuno was the day after high school graduation. Eight years later, he came back to Japan. And found out that the Ryuzakis were living in the same house his family used to live before he left for the US.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, there! As I promised, here's the prologue to 'Be My Daddy', remade by me. There are some changes in this prologue if you compare this to Rokugo's version. After the first chappie, the plot will be totally different. Hope you'll enjoy this remake and give lots of support!**

**Be My Daddy  
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**(****Prologue****)**

_She looked down upon the baby in her lap. The red-headed infant stared back at her, hazel eyes gleaming innocently into her brown ones. Yawning, he continued his sleep. 18 year-old Ryuzaki Sakuno smiled weakly to her seniors that came to pay their respects to the deceased.__ Atobe Keigo, her stepbrother, shoved his hands into the front pockets of his black slacks and fought the urge to stroke the baby's smooth forehead. It would certainly hurt his ego. _

_"If there is anything you need just give me a call. Ore-sama will ensure that your needs as well as your god-child are fulfilled." _

_Sakuno just nodded back.__ "Thanks, nii-san."_

_Atobe was the last one to leave the house. Sakuno__ slowly walked around the house, checking whether there would be more visitors, maybe Tomoka's ex to come by. But no one came after the clock showed ten. The rain was drizzling outside after 8 hours of downpour. _

_Sakuno's eyes caught glimpse of a picture frame nearby the windowsill. She walked towards it and picked up the frame __with 17-year old Osakada Tomoka. Sakuno looked at the picture carefully._

_It was Tomoka, her best__ friend since childhood. The redhead was five months pregnant when the picture was taken, as she recalled. Three months before that, Saeki left Tomoka. His excuse was that he wanted to further his studies in Germany. _

_"Gomen, ne. Tell Tomoka that I'm sorry for her..," was what he said to her._

_It was clear that he couldn't face Tomoka, for he knew the baby was his. After a week he left, leaving Tomoka hoping that he would come back yet he didn't show up even when she was on labour. Sakuno hated Saeki, the guy who torn Tomoka's heart so many times when they were dating__. Tomoka had been admiring him, and he accepted her love just out of sympathy._

_Without knowing it, tears blurred Sakuno's eyes._

_"That kind of guy..." She spat out hatefully._

_The frame was placed back as footsteps were heard. _

_"Sakuno, what's wrong?"_

_S__aid woman turned around to look at her grandmother. Ryuzaki Sumire smiled warmly at her, and gently caressed the baby's forehead._

"_It's now up to us to raise Tomoka's son as if he's our own. Ne?" Sumire searched Sakuno's brown eyes._

_Sakuno nodded, eyes filled with determination. She was going to raise Chotarou like her own child. She was going to care for the baby, to give him all the love he deserved from a mother. Sakuno looked out the window into the dark night. She lifted her head towards the shiny moon and swore upon Tomoka's soul to protect the child. _

_"Let's all work hard together, Ryuzaki Chotarou!"_


	2. Chapter 1

**Be My Daddy**

**A/N: Okay, here's the first chap. The subsequent chapters will be of my ideas since Rokugo's original plot didn't seem to go as planned. Hope you guys enjoy.  
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**Ch 1: Otoko ni Naruya! (Be a Man!)**

"Give back! No one can touch it!" The seven-year-old redhead yelled to a group of kids a couple of years older than him. Being ignored by the kids, Ryuzaki Choutaro head butted the boys yelling out, "DOOORYAA!"

"Ara, you missed, chibisuke!" A senior in his school teased while giving the smaller boy a hard push. "You're in my way, move!" another boy three years older than Choutaro kicked him aside.

Said boy glared at the three bullies who were trying out his rare racket that had a capital 'R' on the holder. "Give it back!" He cried out, but he was ignored instead. His eyes turned blurry as he slumped on the cement court, his knees bruised, a scratch marring his right elbow and chin. "Give...my racket... back..." His voice cracked, as the boys seemed to discuss about the price they were going to pawn the racket for.

"A thousand yen!" a brunet suggested. Immediately their raven-haired leader smacked him on the head. "Idiot, that's too cheap! How about fifty thousand?" He suggested while his finger traced the 'R' initial, "This Prince racket is really rare, right?"

Choutaro inhaled deeply trying to hold his tears as the bullies were too engrossed in the conversation.

"What're you crying for?" Suddenly a deep voice asked, the owner of the voice crouched next to him, and his head was lowered to match Choutaro's level. The evening sun shone against the man's head, making his face shadowed by his white cap. Wiping off his watery eyes, Choutaro pointed towards the boys who were about to decide on a price for the racket.

"Racket..."

The tall man turned towards the kids. "That racket's yours?"

When the smaller male nodded meekly, he stood up lowering his cap a little. "Bullies, eh?" He walked towards the group, patting a red racket on his broad shoulder.

"Fifty thousand, okay? Yosh, let's go!" The leader grinned gleefully at the rare racket in his hands. Just after a few steps, an adult's voice spoke up.

"Fifty thousand? That's quite something for a racket, right?" The boys froze in their tracks and turned around to face the unknown adult.

"Whoa!" Jaws dropped as the kids turned around to see a tall man, with broad shoulders and a lean chest. His eyes were covered by the brim of his cap, his red racket patted on his shoulder. He looked very cool... And he looked very familiar to the kids.

"W-Wai-Wait... you're..." the leader stuttered as he saw the trademark white cap and red racket.

The adult neared the raven-haired boy, then stopped leaving a distance of two feet between them.

"You... Give the boy his racket back." He pointed towards the gaping Choutaro who was standing behind him.

The leader glanced at his followers who were dumbfounded and were gaping inches wider than Choutaro. "O-Okay..." The ten year-old handed the racket to the adult with trembling hands.

"Hm..." mused the adult as he examined the red racket in his hand. "You guys should go, or the boy will call the police." The three bullies gasped and gave a quick bow before they scrambled away, tripping clumsily as they ran.

"Hey... mister..." Choutaro tugged on the adult's sleeve.

Said man smacked the racket lightly on the boy's head. "You should've done something there."

Choutaro frowned as he held tightly onto his precious racket. He slumped like a living zombie next to the adult on a bench.

"Chouta did something," he mumbled.

The hero next to him raised a brow. Choutaro balled his fists and turned to the adult with determination in his eyes. "Chouta head butt them!" The man smirked, trying to suppress a chuckle. He never thought that this young shrimp was sort of brave.

"But..." The once energetic boy dropped his hands and stared at his bruised knees. "Chouta miss..."

"Na..." spoke up the adult, gaining Choutaro's attention. He turned to the little boy next to him, who looked quite familiar to him.

"You like tennis?" The man asked, his eyes gazing at the now orange sky.

Choutaro nodded, "'F'course. Mama plays too, and she's good at it... but she really trips very lot." The boy giggled as he remembered how funny his Mama looked like when she would be chasing for the balls if she hit them too hard.

The adult turned to Choutaro, a frown on his forehead. Tripping? Well, that reminded him of a certain person whom he liked in high school. A lot. _'What was her name again? Um... Sakuma?' _He tilted his head when the name sounded wrong.

"Hey... boy."

The word 'boy' came out a bit slow as the man didn't know how to address a little kid. Choutaro turned to him, bits of laughter still there on the child's face.

"You have to be a man." The mysterious adult said to him.

Frowning, Choutaro asked, "A man?"

The man faced him, his real face seen clearly this time. His eyes were filled with determination all of a sudden.

"Be a man if you want to protect something precious to you."

He said out rather awkwardly. It was his first time having a real conversation with a kid, other than his niece. He grinned in his head, doing something good felt really good.

Somehow, he felt that the boy was trying to protect the racket as if it was something precious to him.

"Pu-re... precious? What's that?" Choutaro frowned as he heard the new word. Ryoma shook his head.

"No, nothing."

Ryoma turned his head to the sky. He remembered a certain somebody. Even though he hadn't seen her for eight long years, he still had the same feeling towards her. No, actually they met four years ago, but strangely he bumped into her at the grave.

_"Why are you here, Ryoma-kun?" _She asked, her eyes looked as if she had shed tears for quite a while.

_"To see my grandparents..." _He answered, as toneless as ever. Their eyes met after four years of separation. After quite a long gaze, he mustered all his courage to ask back.

_"You?" _He asked, wondering if Ryuzaki-sensei was the person who Sakuno was paying her respects to.

Sakuno smiled bitterly, she'd shook her head as if she knew what Ryoma was thinking about.

_"Someone... special..." _She said, avoiding his gaze. Then she just walked past him, without throwing even a glance at him.

After that, they never met. He regretted that time for letting her go, without uttering a word. Even till now, he knew he would fall in love with her again if he would see her again. Maybe this time, he would not make the same mistake as he did eight years ago. If he would see her again, that is.

"Ne, mister." Choutaro tapped the man's knee lightly. "What's your name?" The boy asked, curious to know the name of his savior, his hero that made the bullies scared out of their pants. The tennis-pro Mister that Choutaro assumed to be, blinked a second before he revealed his name.

"Echizen Ryoma." He answered.

It was then when reality struck Choutaro. The boy stood up, his eyes wide as saucepans, his mouth hung open like a cave and his body stood rigid. Ryoma blinked questioningly at the excited boy.

"You... okay?" Ryoma asked, his voice unsure. Choutaro who realized his mouth was gaping nodded so quickly, that Ryoma presumed it had to be fifty nods per second.

"COOL!" Choutaro suddenly yelled out loud, his hands punched the air. Ryoma tilted his head dumbly as the boy started giggling like a girl.

"Stop that, you're a boy for god's sake." He mumbled.

"You're my hero! Gosh, Chouta so gonna tell Mama 'bout this!" The boy quickly packed his stuff and slung the oversized tennis bag on his shoulder. Waving to Ryoma, the boy disappeared from his sight into the small maze of streets of Tokyo.

Shrugging, Ryoma stood up and slung his tennis bag onto his broad shoulder.

He's finally back from the states.


	3. Chapter 2

**Be My Daddy**

**Disclaimer: PoT doesn't belong to me.**

**Warning: Rated T due to usage of crude language.  
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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

She had been busy dusting the ceiling when she heard Choutarou's loud 'I'm baaack!', and nearly fell off the chair she had been tiptoeing on as she hurried to welcome the little boy home.

"Welcome home, Chota- Oh!"

The smile she had on her face quickly fell as she knelt in front of the young boy to examine the bruises on his chin and his left cheekbone. Her eyes watered as she noticed the scratches on his right elbow and a scraped knee.

"Wh-Who d-did this to you?"

Chotarou laughed embarrassedly as Sakuno ran her hand through the boy's red hair to pick out the stuck dried leaves on his head.

"Oh, well, about that... Chota got bullied again."

The boy noticed his mama's teary eyes and quickly he added, "Ah! But somebody saved Chota!"

Instantly the fat tears gathering at the corners of Sakuno's brown eyes cleared as she blinked. "Somebody saved you?"

Chotarou nodded enthusiastically and held Sakuno's face in both his hands, squishing her cheeks as he did so.

"He was so cool! He was Ryoma! Echizen Ryoma! You know? That famous tennis man!"

Sakuno suddenly laughed, and patted the boy's head. "That's really funny, Chotarou. Are you sure it was him? Maybe he was a look-a-like."

Choutarou shook his head, and punched a fist in the air as Sakuno stood up and led him upstairs to the bathroom.

"It really _was _him! Chota see him with my own eyes!"

Sakuno shook her head fondly as she watched the boy automatically walked into his bedroom and came out later with fresh pyjamas and a fluffy towel and got ready to wash himself, his small mouth still talking about how cool his saviour was. The bathroom door closed even when the boy was still talking about a white cap and really cool eyes. Sighing, Sakuno wondered how on earth the boy could have survived school even after all the bullying. The thought stopped as Chotarou's head poked out from behind the bathroom door, shampoo running between his squinted eyes.

"Mama! I can't concentrate when you're outside the bathroom!"

Sakuno giggled and playfully shooed him back inside before she continued to add a few more touches to the already-cleaned house. She rounded a corner heading to another part of the house and slid open a pair of shoji doors opening up to a corridor. Like every weekend, she watched out for any lingering dust on the ceiling and on any other corners she could reach without using a chair as she neared the part leading directly to the back segment of the temple. Noting nothing amiss, she headed back to where she came from to check up on Chotarou.

A smile lit up her face when she thought of that boy.

Who could have known, that the once quiet, introverted three-year-old could grow up to such an energetic bunch. It felt like just yesterday to her when he had tucked onto her apron one early morning and shyly told her that he wanted to play tennis. Sumire had been ecstatic, and immediately brought the boy along whenever the Seigaku Regulars happened to attend a tournament. She had asked him during a sunny afternoon, when they had been eating ice cream, about the sudden interest with tennis. He had simply grinned at her –a grin so familiar to Tomoka's – and told her that he wanted to be tall and strong like Echizen Ryoma, that famous tennis man he'd seen on television.

She had nearly dropped her strawberry ice cream when he revealed that.

There was another reason; it was because he heard from Uncle Keigo that Tomoka loved tennis.

Sumire had raised her brows confusedly when Sakuno and Chotarou returned home that day, with the former's eyes looking as if she had been crying.

Sakuno had waited for Chotarou to sleep soundly that night before she curled into a ball in the couch facing the television and cried again. Sumire had noticed the trembling figure in the dark living room and after the sobbing died down, she sat next to her granddaughter and listened as Sakuno told her about all the good times she spent with Tomoka when the red-head had still been alive.

"Tomo-chan had always been a better tennis player compared to me. She would always bring me along when she practiced with Saeki-san. They had looked so good together... And now Chotarou wants to play tennis just because of her... It makes me feel so happy."

She broke into a painful chuckle, and she had took in a shaky breath as she felt Sumire's warm hand rubbing circles on her back to calm her down.

"Is that why you cried? You were happy?"

Sakuno nodded, and swallowed. "I miss her... I miss her so much, Obaa-chan."

Sumire sighed. "Hey, if Chotarou sees you like this you're gonna scare him."

That brought out laughter from Sakuno, though her voice had sounded weak. "I know, it's just that I can't help it. He reminds me so much of Tomo-chan... I just wish that Osakada-san would have forgiven her. I just want Tomo-chan's dad to come here once in a while to see his grandson, and maybe forgive Tomo-chan. Am I asking for too much, Obaa-chan?"

The old woman had cupped Sakuno's face in her hands and smiled at her granddaughter fondly.

"For asking Tomoka's father to come here and accept his own blood? I don't think that counts as a favour from you. That _is _his responsibility, like it or not. He shouldn't have kicked her daughter out of the house, when she would have needed him the most. Sakuno..."

Sumire kissed the young woman's forehead lovingly, wishing that her precious granddaughter would just stop brooding over the death of Chotarou's mother.

"Do you know that Chotarou's lucky to have a mama like you?"

Sakuno shook her head. "N-No..."

Sumire smiled. "That boy had never blamed anyone for not being accepted into the Osakada family, instead he had said that he was lucky to have an awesome mama like you, and that he wouldn't change anything in the world just to have you as a mother figure for him."

Sakuno frowned. "He... He really said that? When did he learn to say things like that?"

That made Sumire chuckle. "That's our boy, he really knows how to pick out words. But anyway, don't cry like that anymore, okay? If you really love Tomoka and his child, then we have to be strong. Well, it's natural for a woman to cry sometimes but just don't do it when that brat's around, okay?"

Sighing, Sakuno sighed as she let her head rest into the soft fabric of the couch.

"Thank you, Obaa-chan."

Sumire nodded, and she stood up to stretch her back before she left Sakuno to retreat into her bedroom. Sakuno called out to her before she took the stairs, and she turned around to answer with a raised eyebrow.

Sakuno had looked at her, a slight frown on her face.

"I really need to buy Chotarou treats for those things he said about me, right?"

The over-aged tennis coach laughed, just loud enough not to wake Chotarou from his deep slumber, and nodded.

"You do that." And she had started up the flight of stairs, heading to her bedroom to leave Sakuno grinning by herself in the dark.

After that, she had made sure Chotarou had everything he needed for tennis practice, and even offered to train with him on her free time, but the boy had insisted that he could train with Uncle Keigo.

Sakuno giggled a little when she remembered seeing Atobe trying to hide the proud smirk on his face when the boy had said that he wanted to train with the awesome Uncle Keigo because the grey-eyed man was the bestest player in their family. The boy somehow became attached to Sakuno's step-brother for unknown reasons, and she couldn't see in any way that Atobe didn't approve of the boy following him around for tennis practice.

Sakuno wondered how Atobe would react if he knew Chotarou had whispered to her that Echizen Ryoma would still be his favourite.

The feel of soft fur rubbing against her exposed calves moved her attention towards the grown female Husky greeting her. The dog eagerly wagged its tail as Sakuno scratched behind its ears and a giggle escaped her lips. She stopped for a while in the middle of the corridor connecting the backyard of the temple to the west wing of the living room to ruffle the eager dog's fur. Her mind involuntarily went towards the person whom supposedly saved Chotarou from the bullies.

A frown marred her forehead. It was impossible for Ryoma to be there, in Japan. And if he was there, why would he suddenly be in their hometown? He couldn't have just felt like coming back to this place, and more importantly, to the street tennis courts. There was a newly-built sports complex in their town, and someone of his status would've preferred the indoor courts.

But Ryoma wasn't _any_ typical man with big titles on his shoulders.

He was THE Echizen Ryoma.

He was also the guy whom saved her countless times during their school years, so maybe Chotarou could've been right. Her grandmother also told her that their guest was an old friend of hers, so maybe it _was _him.

That made sense, Sakuno thought.

Then she gasped, and squeezed the dog's blinking face in between her hands.

"Yukio! Oh my god! What if it's really him?"

The Husky named Yukio raised a brow, and instead of a bark, she opened her mouth to whine out something that oddly sounded like "I don't knooooow."

Sakuno whipped her head towards the shoji door opening up to the west wing of the living room when the door bell rang.

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><p>A cab moved at a leisure pace up the winding roads, roads which seemed to remind the occupant sitting in the back seat of the yellow-painted car of his childhood spent in Japan. The occupant leaned forward to talk to the driver, and after a few seconds, the public vehicle pulled over on one side of the road, near a lamp post. A pair of legs stepped out and the back door was shut, before the cab drove away.<p>

_This is where the bridge should be..._ The tall man wearing a pair of sport shoes on his feet thought inwardly as he scanned the familiar area for a bridge which he used to walk over towards the temple his family used to reside in.

But after a few second of scanning the area, he found no bridge. His dark brows lowered to a straight line, his bored amber eyes stared at nothing in particular and his lips were pressed into a straight line. A few moment of silence passed, the autumn wind blew, and finally he lowered the brim of his white cap, his voice sounding very neutral, disguising the annoyance bubbling in him as he spoke up.

"Where the hell am I?"

He started to walk upwards the winding roads, and stopped for a while after a few steps when he felt the vibration of his cell phone. Seeing the caller ID on the screen, Echizen Ryoma grudgingly answered the call with a composed, "Sensei, what happened to that bridge."

It wasn't a question, it was more of a statement, but Sumire answered anyway, bits of laughter ringing in his ears.

"Oh, that bridge? The authorities tore it down because school kids had been skipping school using that bridge as a short-cut."

"But I hadn't."

Sumire laughed again, and irritably Ryoma wondered what on earth was so funny. He bluntly asked where he should go, now that his plan to visit that temple was ruined.

"So, where am I staying?"

"Oh, that. Where are you? If you're still at the bridge, you can just walk to that place. I'm on my way home now, so I'll meet you there. Anyway, why didn't you just book a hotel or somethin'?"

Ryoma scowled at nothing when he stuffed a hand into his pockets. "I'm on the Wanted List."

Sumire laughed loudly, and if it wasn't because she had been Ryoma's coach, he would've told her to shut up already.

"Ah, I get it. Oh, and you're staying at my house if you're still not clear about the arrangements."

Ryoma nodded, and started to walk towards the general direction of the Ryuzaki's resident.

"Okay, I'm hanging up, sensei."

"Wait, I've moved."

Ryoma stopped and nearly groaned. Great, he didn't know where his coach was staying and she expected him to know the news beforehand? The sky was already a hue of dark orange and purple and the street lamps were flickering to life. Walking alone in the middle of night to a house which he had no idea where was something that never appealed to anyone. Especially to Ryoma, even more so because he was tired and he was hungry and he missed Karupin even if he didn't seem like it.

"Where?"

Sumired gave him the address, and Ryoma widened his eyes. Before he even had the chance to say, "what?" she had already hung up on him. He cursed when he noticed that it also happened that his cell phone ran out of juice.

And so Echizen Ryoma started walking towards the general direction of that temple which he had used to play tennis with Nanjiroh, a headache coming on and an angry stomach in tow.

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><p>Sumire was just about to ring the door bell, when she saw Ryoma approaching from the corner of her eye. She waved to him, and he gave a small nod. Her hand slapped his back as he stopped next to her in front of the high black-painted gate that lead to the front door of the Echizen's previous house. He had to stifle a cough and opted to send a glare to the old woman. He was feeling like crap and Sumire still treated him like a rag doll, slapping his back like that. The woman ignored the glare and rang the door bell. As they waited the intercom to buzz, Sumire grinned at her ex-student.<p>

"How are you?"

"Feel like shit."

Sumire laughed at that, and it irked Ryoma to no end. But he was going to stay here, at her house, so he opted not to comment on her teasing laugh.

"The flight must've tired you out, huh? Sorry for making you walk just now. I thought you were still in the taxi."

Ryoma answered with a silent 'Hn', and the intercom buzzed. A child-like voice answered the door.

"Sumire-chan? Is that you?"

Sumire smiled, and pressed on a button as she leaned into the speaker to reply. "Yep, it's me Chotarou. Open up the gate, we have a guest here."

There was a sound of someone gasping, probably the child with the girly voice (Ryoma assumed), and the child shouted something to someone else in the house.

"Who's the guest, Sumire-chan?"

"It's a surprise, Chotaro. Now open up."

"Oh, okay! Wait a minute!"

There was an odd sound when the boy ended the conversation and it was silent for a few seconds before the gate immediately opened outwards slowly, only stopping at an angle of thirty degrees, enough opening for both Ryoma and Sumire to walk past it.

Ryoma's eyes scanned the front porch as they entered, the soft clanging of the gates as they closed together ignored as he noticed that his previous house didn't change much. There was an awning installed overhead, and the door had a new coat of grey paint. Sumire motioned him to follow her as she knocked on the door, and a few moments later they could hear light footsteps hurrying towards the door. There was the sound of the locks being unlatched, and the door opened up before them. A boy with red-hair who seemed vaguely familiar to Ryoma stood rooted in front of them, his mouth hung open.

Sumire motioned towards their supposed guest.

"Chotarou, stop gaping. This is Echizen Ryoma. He's a friend of mine."

The boy snapped his mouth shut and a large grin was directed at the still-clueless Ryoma. The boy punched a hand in the air and lunged towards the old woman, laughing cheerily.

"Obaa-chan! It's Echizen Ryoma!"

Sumire laughed as she ruffled the boy's head. "Yes, he is."

The boy turned to Ryoma and took the man's hand in both his smaller ones.

"Hello, my name's Ryuzaki Chotarou! It's very good to see you again!"

Ryoma blinked, his fatigue and hunger instantly forgotten as he watched the energetic red-headed urchin of seven fawning over him.

Ryuzaki Chotarou?

Whose kid was he?

And he couldn't remember meeting the boy.

With all the confusion clouding his mind, Ryoma managed to bluntly point out that he didn't know the boy. To Chotarou's credit, the boy didn't even bat an eyelid as he pointed towards the clumsily plastered band-aids covering his knee and elbow. There was one on his cheek (which was nearly falling off because the boy was grinning too much), and another on Chotarou's chin.

"Uncle, you saved me from those bullies hours ago. At the tennis courts. Remember?"

Ryoma cocked his head, trying to recall where he had been that afternoon; when suddenly he heard a strange howl before he was suddenly glomped by a large creature that jumped out from the front door.

"Ohmph!"

He nearly had a concussion as the creature knocked him off balance, causing him to fall down and it was suffocating him as it stayed on top of his body. He groaned as the heavy thing remained on top of him, finding the tennis player to be a nice replacement for a bean bag. Amber eyes flew open as Ryoma felt something wet and sticky lapping up the side of his face and a familiar-smelling breath fanning against his face.

Dog breath.

He cursed. He was allergic to dogs.

While he was trying to lift the abnormally dog off his body, Sumire was busy laughing at him and Chotarou was busy babbling about how heroic Ryoma had been when he saved him from the bullies.

"Son of a-"

A familiar voice spoke up before he could even finish his sentence. "Yukio! Oh my god, get off him!"

The dog miraculously rolled off the tennis player, rolled around on the floor for a few moments before it obediently sat next to a woman, its tail wagging happily.

Ryoma quickly got up, and stormed into the house, walking pass the apologizing Sakuno. He walked straight to the kitchen, turned on the tap water, threw away his cap and placed his head under the running water. He didn't care if the water was cold, he needed to get rid of the dog saliva off his face. He was never going near a dog after this.

Sumire joined him in the kitchen, and Ryoma just knew the old hag had a grin on her face.

"Couldn't wait to see the house, Ryoma?"

Ryoma cursed again, and he managed to grumble between clenched teeth, his head still under the running water.

"I'm allergic to dogs, damn it."

He turned off the tap water, and heaved a breath as he planted his palms on either side of the sink to brace himself. He had left his bags at the front door, and he suddenly remembered about Sakuno. He scowled.

After so many years, why did it have to be then when he would see her again? And he had made a fool out of himself.

He blamed the dog.

Damn mutt.

As if on cue, the large husky that had gladly landed on top of him from nowhere brushed its muzzle against his leg, and he glared at the dog as it plopped on the floor to stare back at Ryoma. The dog wagged its tail, finding that a dripping wet Ryoma was very enjoyable to look at. Ryoma, on the other hand, was thinking of ways to skin the dog alive if it ever happens to jump on him like what it did moments ago.

"You-"

A fluffy white towel held under his nose stopped him in mid-sentence, and he looked up from the white towel towards a pair of round brown orbs.

Ryuzaki Sakuno was smiling apologetically at him, and the angels seemed to be singing over them as she handed him the towel.

"Sorry about that, Ryoma-kun. Yukio's a... very energetic dog."

The dog made a weird sound to confirm what Sakuno said and Ryoma took the towel from Sakuno.

"Thanks." He dried his face and when he pulled the towel down, Sakuno was already helping Chotarou bringing in his tennis bag and his duffel bag.

Sumire disappeared upstairs to take a hot shower, and the dog was eagerly following Chotarou everywhere. Sakuno rubbed the back of her head, a pretty blush staining her cheeks as she apologized again and walked into the kitchen to take out dinner.

"I-I'm really sorry, Ryoma-kun. Um, Yukio grew up with Chotarou so they both kind of share the same energetic approach when they see someone they like. Oh, I made dinner but I haven't set it up yet."

Ryoma watched as she tiptoed to fetch a stack of rice bowls, the hem of her pink plain T-shirt riding up her back, revealing a sliver of skin. He snapped his eyes up to look at the single braid running down her back instead. Realising that Sakuno was talking to him, he replied with what he could find in his clouded brain at that moment.

"Ah. Yes."

He didn't notice his stomach grumbling quite loudly, and Sakuno laughed softly. Then she turned to him; holding a big spoon and pointed to the flight of stairs leading to the second floor of the house.

"Since Obaa-chan's taking a bath, why don't you do the same ne? We just cleaned the guest room, it's the last door to the right, and there's a small bathroom in it too. You can rest for a while, and come down later for dinner."

Although Yukio was now approaching him, wagging its tail, Ryoma couldn't find it in him to say no.

She was right, anyway. He was just realizing that he was tired, and he needed a wash from all the doggy germs crawling up his body.

Ryoma excused himself, nodded to Chotarou as the boy waved to him, and proceeded to ascend the stairs. Yukio was following him, and he turned around sharply to glare at the dog.

"Don't. Come. Near. Understand?"

Oddly, the dog gave a meek whine which sounded suspiciously like a 'yes' to him and sat still on the foot of the stairs.

Ryoma couldn't help the smirk on his face.

"Good mutt."

* * *

><p>As soon as he closed the door behind him, he found his bags in one corner of the room. There was a bed in the centre of the room, the mattress covered by light blue linen and a dark blue quilt. Someone had prepared a few towels, and small bottles of body soap and shampoo on the bed. He took out a pair of pyjama bottoms and a grey round-neck T-shirt before he undressed. He walked into the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist and showered.<p>

"Holy-"

He jumped out from under the shower when cold water sprayed out from the shower head. Scowling, he turned the heater on and waited for a few seconds before he resumed his shower, lathering his chest, under his arms and other parts of his body and feeling the warm soapy water running down his chest, belly and tired legs. He almost sighed at the relaxed muscles of his calves. All the while he was trying not to think about Sakuno and the young boy, and he could think of nothing else. How was he to ignore the fact that the boy carried her family name when he knew she wasn't married? If she was, Sumire would've told him, right? But then again, he had lost contact with his former coach until three years ago when suddenly the old hag called him out of the blue. He had bluntly said that he thought she had died already, and after a few colourful curses flying out of her mouth, she had told him that she changed her number.

So maybe Sakuno had been married during that time? But Chotarou looked as if he was about six or seven years old. It was impossible for the boy to be Sakuno's because she didn't look like somebody who had given birth to a child. She just looked too... young and small for someone who had given birth.

But then again, Ryoma had once seen a picture of a young Ryuzaki-sensei when he was a teenager and the old woman had been wearing a red cocktail dress which wrapped around her hips and flat stomach. She hadn't looked like someone who had given birth to three children then. So maybe Sakuno, being a Ryuzaki, really has a son, but her body was still that of a young woman?

"Damn it." He cursed himself for even thinking about her.

It was none of his business if she had married or not.

He was going to stay there for the next three months for his short vacation and he would be flying back to America after that. Sakuno could have three children, or even ten with a faceless sonofabitch for all he cared and he shouldn't think about it at all. Because thinking about her would just make him into a messy pile of heart-broken goo and would drive him insane by the end of the three months.

So there.

Echizen Ryoma was a free twenty-five year old man with a good head on his shoulders, so he wouldn't trouble himself thinking about _that _guy –whoever he might be- whom had the audacity to let alone touch Ryuzaki Sakuno. With that in mind, he stepped out of the shower, dried himself with a towel, and changed into his clothes before he walked out of the room to join the Ryuzakis for dinner.

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><p><strong>AN: Phew! Finally, an update! Sorry for the long wait, I needed to piece the plots together so that this chapter doesn't seem too rushed. Thank you for the lovely review for the previous chapters, and I hope this chapter would bring about more love.**

**Hugs and kisses!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Be My Daddy  
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><p><strong>AN: Yep. You got it right. This is a double-update. Yeah, I know that I'm awesome. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I thank beforehand to those who took the time to send their reviews for this story.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: PoT doesn't belong to me. But Ryuzaki Chotarou's mine.**

**Warning: Rated T due to usage of crude language.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Ch3<strong>

As he descended the stairs, his eyes looked around for the energetic female Husky. The sound of light chatter drifted from the kitchen, and he saw Yukio sitting next to Chotarou, obediently waiting the boy to finish dinner and play with the dog. Sumire noticed Ryoma's presence from the corner of her eye and motioned for the man to join them.

He pulled out a chair and settled on it, only realizing that he was sitting next to Sakuno when their bare arms brushed against each other when he lifted his rice bowl. He muttered a silent apology to her, oblivious to the sudden blush colouring Sakuno's cheeks as he dug into his food. Chotarou was busy talking about the transfer student in his class when Sakuno bit her lower lip to stop from blushing and tried to focus on the boy's voice instead.

Ryoma's arm brushed against hers again when he moved slightly closer towards her when Yukio stared at him from the floor. It was just a slight touch but it sent weird tingles all over her arm and travelled up to her neck.

She tried to compose herself, and swallowing, she beamed a smile towards Chotarou.

"Um, why don't you tell me about tennis, Chotarou? Did Uncle Keigo teach you anything new?"

Ryoma stopped glaring at Yukio from his seat when he turned his head towards the brunette sitting next to him.

Uncle Keigo?

Sakuno noticed him raising a brow, and decided to elaborate.

"Chotarou's been playing tennis since he was three, and he's now training with Onii-sama."

This time both of his brows rose. "You have a brother?"

Sakuno nodded. "Atobe Keigo. He's my step-brother, my father's son."

Ryoma turned his eyes to Sumire as the old woman spoke up. "Sakuno's using her mother's maiden name, if that's what you're wondering. Her dad married twice."

"Oh." He said, and turned back to a smiling Sakuno.

It seemed like a few long seconds when she realized he was looking at her with an odd expression, before she blushed lightly and whipped her head to listen to Chotarou as the boy went on about the new training drill he went through Uncle Keigo. Ryoma dragged his eyes across the table to look at Sumire, and that old woman was smirking at him. He scowled back.

It looked like his former coach knew something that he didn't, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Oh, Uncle Ryoma. Why are you afraid of dogs?"

Ryoma looked up from his nearly-empty bowl to blink dumbly across the table at Chotarou. He put his rice bowl on the table, reached for the tea and downed it in one large gulp.

"I'm not afraid of dogs."

As if on cue, Yukio eagerly wagged its tail, and when it neared Ryoma's side, he pushed the chair back to stand up. He didn't see that Sumire and Sakuno were both biting down laughter when he swallowed.

"I'm... I'm allergic."

Chotarou frowned. "But you're not sneezing."

With his eyes still on the blinking dog, Ryoma sat back on the chair to answer Chotarou.

"No, not that type of allergy. It's just... It's complicated, okay."

Chotarou gave a mock salute and continued to talk about the coming tennis practice with his Uncle Keigo. Ryoma inwardly heaved a sigh.

That was so embarrassing.

* * *

><p>"... And this is Okaa-chan and mama when they won their first tennis match. Isn't it cool? One day, Chota want to play a big match and bring back a shiny trophy for mama and Okaa-chan."<p>

Ryoma was sitting comfortably on the couch facing the television, with Chotarou already making himself comfortable by leaning against Ryoma as he sat between the adult's long legs. Sumire and Sakuno were cleaning the table after they finished dinner and were probably talking about something important as they busied themselves with the dishes in the sink.

It was odd at first when Chotarou took out an old photo album and started talking to Ryoma about his Okaa-chan and his mama. From what he observed during dinner, the boy called Sakuno mama. But apparently the boy had another mother, and that he called the unknown woman 'Okaa-chan'. It was after a few flipped pages and a dozen pictures during Sakuno's sophomore years in High School did he realize that the boy's real mother was not Sakuno.

It was the loud-mouthed red-head.

When the boy started talking about his real mother, Ryoma noticed the makeshift shrine in one corner of the living room, with a picture frame of Chotarou's Okaa-chan.

Osakada Tomoka.

It seemed unreal to him that the loud-mouthed Osakada was... dead. Then he was right about Sakuno, she wasn't married. He felt a sudden rush of relief wash him, yet at the same time he felt guilty for not knowing about the death of the boy's mother.

Osakada might be annoying.

But she had been Sakuno's best friend. And he wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, but the loud woman was sort of a friend to him also.

"Ne, Uncle Ryoma..."

The boy looked up into his face, and he looked down into curious innocent hazel eyes as he answered the boy with a raised brow. The boy continued.

"Sumire-chan told me you knew mama."

Ryoma nodded. He knew her alright. She had been the stuttering granddaughter of Ryuzaki-sensei who couldn't even walk around without being lost or trip on nothing in particular. She had been one of the clumsiest people he had ever met, but surprisingly she was a good cook, and when she had made a presentation during Middle High, her speech had been flawless.

"I knew her."

Chotarou smiled goofily, and it dawned to him that the boy looked so much like his mother. Of what he remembered Osakada used to look like.

"Did you win lots of matches?"

A smirk ghosted Ryoma's lips as he nodded. "Of course."

Ryoma expected the boy to gush over him again when suddenly the boy looked back towards the photo showing Sakuno and Tomoka in their colourful dresses during their prom night. His small hand traced both Sakuno's and Tomoka's face, a forlorn look in his bright eyes.

"Chota want to win matches like you too. Chota want to make mama happy and then when mama's happy, Okaa-chan will be happy too. Don't you think so, Uncle?"

Ryoma fought the urge to trace Sakuno's picture with his fingers too, and opted to glance towards the kitchen. Sakuno was laughing cheerfully with her grandmother, talking about the previous Mega Sale that took place in a shopping complex. She had changed a bit over the years. She didn't really stutter like she used to, and she was taller. But she was still the same Sakuno who was easy to please and her smiles were as radiant as he remembered them to be.

He lifted a hand and ruffled the boy's head, messing the mop of red-hair. "Sure, you do that."

Chotarou beamed at him, and started on another album. This time, there were pictures of him as he grew up. It took about another half an hour for the boy to tell Ryoma about every picture on the album, before he fell asleep with Ryoma on the couch.

* * *

><p>Sumire patted her shoulders and rested on a chair, watching Sakuno dry the dishes with a small towel.<p>

"Do you really think he's allergic to dogs?"

Sakuno laughed, and shook her head. "I don't know. It's really funny though."

Sumire nodded to herself, and sipped the cup of green tea Sakuno had fixed for her before bed time. She glanced at the couch where Ryoma and Chotarou was sleeping on like logs, and spoke up from the chair.

"Looks like that brat really likes Ryoma, huh?"

Sakuno nodded, and turned around to watch Chotarou's head resting on Ryoma's chest.

"He's probably thinking that this is just a dream. He likes Ryoma-kun so much."

Sumire grinned, and Sakuno cocked her head to one side as she looked at her grandmother curiously. "You know... You should stop calling him that, Sakuno."

"Why?"

"You're making him uneasy."

Sakuno laughed again, and turned around to finish stacking the bowls on the dish rack.

"How do you know that? He looked okay to me. Besides..."

A blush coloured Sakuno's cheeks as she turned to look at the duo sleeping on the couch, her smile fond.

"...he hasn't changed a bit. Still the same Ryoma-kun that I know..."

Sumire smiled knowingly. "If I hadn't known you better, you were busy avoiding him the entire evening, Sakuno. What is it? Is it his tall body? His arms... oh, wait, what do you think about his legs? Hm? Oh, wait a minute, you like everything about him, right?"

Sakuno nearly dropped a bowl, and the blush on her face returned full force. She spun around, facing Sumire with her eyes blinking dumbly at her.

"O-Obaa-chan!" She squeaked out, mortified that her grandmother would even suggest her to check-out Ryoma.

Not that she hadn't done that yet during dinner.

Sumire threw up her arms, an incredulous look on her face.

"Hey, don't you _want _to like all the good stuff? Geez, Sakuno..."

"B-But... you're my _grandmother_ for god's sake!"

Sakuno glanced worriedly at Chotarou and continued, her voice lowered down to a whisper. "Ryoma-kun can hear us, you know."

Sighing, the older Ryuzaki shrugged and stood up to stretch her back. She patted Sakuno's narrow shoulder, and smiled at her favourite granddaughter.

"Since he's here, why don't you guys pick up where you left off?"

Sakuno looked away, and suddenly she began to feel like the thirteen-year old Sakuno all over again as she began twisting her fingers together when she mumbled back.

"There was nothing to pick up in the first place, Obaa-chan."

Sumire looked at Sakuno for a long time, and embraced her granddaughter, while rubbing circles on Sakuno's back.

"And I never thought that you would like him this much. I never knew that it was never a crush, it was something stronger in the first place, right? It never hurts to try and do something about it."

"I'll try, Obaa-chan. Thank you."

Sumire pulled back, and smiled before she disappeared upstairs.

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><p>"<em>You did it again, Ryoma-kun."<em>

_He raised the hand covering his eyes, and turned his head towards the girl sitting next to him on the roof top. He didn't realize she had been sitting there. With a raised brow, he asked her._

"_Did what?"_

_The girl blushed suddenly, a habit Ryoma found quite adorable yet odd at the same time, and watched as she smiled prettily at him._

"_Y-You won your match against Yukimura-san, and you're returning to the States after this, right? Isn't that great? E-Everyone's happy."_

_It took a few seconds for what she said to sink in, when he suddenly blurted out. _

"_What about you?"_

_She blinked at him. "Hm? Me?"_

_Ryoma looked away, and sat up from his lying position to lower the brim of his cap. He spoke up again with forced indifference._

"_You don't look happy."_

_Sakuno blushed again, and twisted her fingers in her lap as she lowered her face to hide from Ryoma's amber eyes._

"_O-Of course I-I'm happy, Ryoma-kun. Well, it's t-true that you're probably going to stay in America and n-not going back here again, and I'm a little sad be-because I won't see you again and um... I can... y-you know... still write to you... B-But I'm happy! I'm happy for you, Ryoma-kun!"_

_During her babble she didn't notice Ryoma's amused eyes looking at her, thinking that she was a funny person and he'll miss her stutters and the blush on her cheeks and her 'Ryoma-kun'. The corners of his mouth kicked up as he continued to lie down, using her lap as a pillow._

_Sakuno gasped and with the blush returning to her face full force, she managed to squeak out, "Ryoma-kun!"_

_He smirked, his eyes closed as he told her to stop wiggling so much and let him take a nap. She kept silent, and fought the urge to touch his cheek. She smiled as she watched the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and whispered to him._

"_I'll miss you, Ryoma-kun."_

_The slight turning up of his lips told her that he heard her._

Ryoma woke up to a voice calling his name, and as he cracked open his eyes, he saw a very familiar face with brown eyes and a smile he'd missed. He suddenly mumbled out the first thing that came to mind.

"You didn't write to me."

Sakuno blinked at him quizzically, and when Ryoma realized that he had voiced his thought, he cleared his throat and tried to sit up.

"W-Wait, don't sit up yet. You're going to wake him up."

Sakuno pushed her hands on his shoulders gently to prevent him from sitting up, and that was when he noticed a warm body curled up against him. He lifted a hand and put it on top of the mop of messy red hair, a tiny smile curving his lips.

"Really, he's asking for a cramped neck in the morning."

He turned to Sakuno who was smiling at him apologetically, her hands still on his shoulders.

"I'm really sorry. Um, can you please stay still for a while?"

As she said that, she removed her hands from his shoulders and instead tucked them underneath Chotarou's arms to lift the boy in her arms. She took a breath as she gathered the boy in her arms, and whispered soothing words in the boy's ears as he stirred a bit in his sleep. Ryoma watched as Chotarou reflexively circled his legs around Sakuno's petite waist and wrapped his arms around her neck to rest his head on one shoulder.

With Chotarou in her arms, Sakuno turned to him and motioned to Yukio which was sleeping with its belly up on a corner of the living room.

"I'm sorry if these two have troubled you today, Chotarou sometimes gets a little too excited. So, um, good night, Ryoma-kun."

She turned around approached the stairs, when Ryoma told her to wait. She turned to him, her eyes blinking at him as he approached her and held out his arms.

"Give him to me."

Sakuno smiled. "No, it's okay, I'm used to this already."

Ryoma looked at her pointedly as he spoke up to her, while a hand was kept on the boy's back so as to not let him sag down from Sakuno's arms.

"The boy's getting too heavy for you."

"No, it's really okay. He's not that heavy."

"Ryuzaki, he's slipping off your arms."

Sakuno sighed, and finally relented. Carefully, she whispered for the boy to loosen his arms, and sleepily the boy complied. Ryoma awkwardly gathered Chotarou in his strong arms, lifting the boy from Sakuno's as if the child weighed nothing. He turned to Sakuno and motioned towards the stairs.

"Let's go."

They silently ascended the stairs leading to the boy's bedroom, with Chotarou occasionally mumbling incoherent words in his sleep. Sakuno laughed softly as the boy suddenly talked about French fries in cola, and Ryoma raised a brow.

"Here, please."

Ryoma walked towards the bed Sakuno motioned, and lifted a hand behind his neck to unwound Chotarou's hands from him, slowly lowering the boy onto his bed. He moved back, and watched as Sakuno knelt next to the bed to adjust Chotarou's head onto the pillow and tuck the blanket at his sides. She gently ran a hand though the mop of red hair, and after she made sure the band aids on his cheek and chin were properly plastered, she stood up.

Sakuno turned around and Ryoma was already at the door frame, waiting for her. Making sure the windows were shut and the night light was turned on, she closed the blue-painted door.

"I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun. You must be tired. Um, you can sleep in tomorrow morning since you just came all the way from America"

Sakuno made a slight bow, and walked around him to reach another door next to Chotarou's bedroom. Before she twisted the door knob, she felt a hand grab her wrist, firmly but not hurting.

"Let's talk."

She looked down at the hand holding her wrist, and blushed a faint pink when she realized Ryoma's skin touching hers.

"What time is it, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma checked the time on his wristwatch, told her it was ten minutes to midnight, and she nodded.

"Okay then, let's talk downstairs."

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><p>Sakuno placed a cup of tea in front of Ryoma as she took her place on top of the kitchen counter. Blowing on her tea, she looked up from her tea to find Ryoma staring at the silhouette of the small temporary shrine in one corner of the living room. She took a sip of her tea and broke the silence when she spoke up.<p>

"We just moved in a few months ago, and we're still waiting for a carpenter to finish the small shrine we bought for Tomo-chan."

Ryoma turned to her, his eyes unreadable.

"You didn't tell me she died."

Sakuno smiled sadly, and avoided his eyes. "I'm... sorry... It just happened quickly, and I had been thinking too much about raising Chotarou as my own."

It was a silent for a few minutes when Ryoma spoke up again.

"Who's the father?"

Sakuno looked at him, her eyes uncertain. She avoided his eyes again, and her voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke up.

"You...You won't believe me."

"Who's it?"

She hesitated, and finally, with a slight frown on her forehead, she told him.

"Saeki-san. Fuji-senpai's childhood friend, the one from Rokkaku."

It took a while for the words to sink in when Ryoma finally replied with a 'Hn.'

Sakuno placed her cup next to her on the counter and she started to curl her fingers into her lap.

"Chotarou's a sweet boy. In the beginning, I didn't want to tell him that he was adopted, and that his real mother had died when she delivered him, but something happened when he was three, and I had to tell him the truth."

She didn't know why she decided to tell him about Chotarou, but she decided that Tomoka _was _Ryoma's friend too, and he deserved to know more. So she continued, all the while he listened intently, not saying a thing when she would pause in her words to quell the tears from coming down.

"I hadn't known that she and Saeki-san had been dating for a few months when we were sixteen. Tomo-chan told me it was just temporary, but to me it seemed like Tomo-chan really liked him. She was serious about Saeki-san, and it wasn't until she told me she was five weeks pregnant with his child when we realized that Saeki-san hadn't felt the same about Tomo-chan."

Sakuno stopped for a while to take a deep breath, and looked up at Ryoma, her eyes glassy.

"Tomo-chan's dad disowned her, Ryoma-kun. He said he didn't have a cheap tart as a daughter. Her younger brothers had begged their dad to take her back, but Osakada-san had already made his mind, and Tomo-chan stayed with me instead."

"What about Saeki?"

"I had to skip school that one time and went all the way to Chiba to talk to him, and he told me he was going overseas to further his studies. I can still remember him telling me that... that Tomo-chan had been an accident, and he said he was sorry... But he didn't _look _sorry. If anything, it looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else but Japan."

Ryoma didn't know why, but he suddenly felt like this Saeki guy was nothing more than a loser.

"What an ass."

Sakuno smiled, and lifted a hand to wipe off a lone tear that escaped the corner of her eye.

"I had been really mad at Saeki-san... but then maybe he really did feel that way towards Tomo-chan... He had broke up with his girlfriend just weeks before Tomo-chan confessed to him, so when I look at it now, I should've been the one to warn Tomo-chan."

She stood up, and brought her empty cup to the sink.

"But actually, I should have thanked Saeki-san... When Chotarou grew up, there was never a day when I would be lonely. He reminds me so much of Tomo-chan, that there would be times when I feel as if Tomo-chan had never left me."

Sakuno turned to him, and smiled. "Did I answer your question?"

Ryoma nodded, and he decided to ask her another question that bugged him when he first saw her that day.

"Why were you avoiding me?"

Sakuno blinked at him for a while, and suddenly she broke out into a nervous laugh. Rubbing the back of her neck, she tried to inch her way out of the kitchen.

"Why would I do that, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma's brows lowered to a straight line, and he looked at her with eyes that promised no escape. She stood frozen at the door frame of the kitchen when he stood up from his chair, and she turned her face away, intent to focus on anything other than his face. He walked towards Sakuno, and startled her as he used his hand to turn her chin so that she faced him.

"You're doing it now."

Her blush darkened as she noticed how close she was to him.

"I-I don't...know..."

Ryoma dropped his hand. "You didn't write to me."

Sakuno raised her brows. "Hm? What do you mean?"

He stepped back a few, and held up one of her small and in his calloused one.

"You told me you would write to me when I left for America."

Memories from those times when they were teenagers flashed through her head, and suddenly the image of him lying down on the roof top, using her lap as a pillow filled the front of her mind. The words she spoke to him that day rang in her ears, and suddenly she could feel her face turning warm. Her heart was beating so loudly she was afraid he would hear it, and she swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw that small lift in the corners of his mouth.

He was smirking.

"You didn't write to me." He pointed out again.

"I'm sorry..."

He raised a brow, and poked her cheek with a finger. "I didn't hear that."

Sakuno bit her lower lip, and she looked up into his face, her cheeks burning from embarrassment.

"I said I'm sorry, for not writing to you. It's just that, things had been hectic since you left... I had been too busy with school and-"

Ryoma gave her a sceptic look, and she laughed sheepishly. "You were too busy? Even for me?"

Sakuno twisted her fingers together as she sheepishly admitted with the small nod of her head. Ryoma's face twisted into a scowl. She hurriedly flailed her arms about.

"I didn't mean that!" Realizing she had just said that a little bit too loud, she clasped a hand over her mouth, and glanced at the stairs to look for anyone who might've heard her.

When she was sure no one woke up, Sakuno turned back to Ryoma, and mumbled something. Ryoma irritably sighed.

"I can't hear you."

"I mean... that is... um... I hadn't been _that _busy it's just that... um... I was scared... maybe?"

Ryoma blinked at her. "Why would you be scared?"

If possible, Sakuno's cheeks turned warmer, and that realization frustrated her to no end. A mother does not blush, she told herself. And yet, when she looked at him from under her lashes, she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I don't know... Maybe because I had been afraid that you wouldn't have read my letter... You know me, I was just that shy clumsy girl and I had been sure that even if I did have the courage to really send you a letter, you probably wouldn't have recognized me."

This time it was Ryoma's turn to clear his throat, scratch the back of his head awkwardly and looked somewhere else. The last part would've been true if he was to say so himself. He tried to search for an answer to that, and he found one.

"That last part isn't true. I... could've remembered you."

Sakuno laughed softly, and sweetly, she smiled up at him.

"No you won't. You couldn't recognize me that one time, when I met you at school. Remember? That time when you first played tennis with Momo-senpai."

That stung. Okay, maybe he had forgotten about her that one time.

Ryoma scowled at the carpet beneath him, and he mumbled out a response.

"That was because I just met you once at the train... And after that I remembered your name..."

He looked up and saw the same sweet smile plastered on her face, and he wondered just when the tables had turned around? He had been interrogating _her_, demanding answers from _her, _and suddenly he was the one being left at the short end of the stick. So not fair.

"Well, you could've sent me a letter or two anyways."

Sakuno cocked her head innocently. "But I told you, you wouldn't have remembered me."

Ryoma could feel the words itching to roll off his tongue. No, he wouldn't have forgotten about her because all those years he had been waiting, like a love-sick pathetic excuse of a moron for a damn letter from her. But he couldn't, _wouldn't _have just told her that because he had his pride and after what happened with Yukio, he would greatly appreciate it if he could just save his pride from a second round of bruising.

Why couldn't she understand that?

He watched her as she waited for his smart answer, and he spoke up.

"And like what _I've _told you, I wouldn't have forgotten about you because-"

_Because you're special to me and I could never forget someone as rare as you, silly woman._

Woah. Stop there tiger.

He nearly said something that could've ruined that moment. He just knew if he blurted out his thoughts about her, she would gasp, call him a 'baka', then she would turn away from him and run upstairs to cry in her bedroom. That always happens in those novels his mother had been reading in her free time.

Brown orbs were looking expectantly at him, waiting for him to say something to cover up his slip-up.

So he looked up into her eyes, and with forced indifference he spoke up,

"Because you're my friend. I don't forget about my friends."

The brightness in Sakuno's brown eyes dimmed just a little as she heard the word 'friends' coming out of his mouth, and she beamed a smile at him.

"I guess you're right, Ryoma-kun."

They stood there looking at each other for a while, and then Sakuno made a slight bow at him to excuse herself for the night.

"I guess I should be in bed right now. Good night, Ryoma-kun."

He watched her, turning around and ascending the stairs, and he suddenly called out to her. She stopped after a few steps, and turned her profile to him, her eyes waiting for him to continue. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his comfortable pyjama bottoms, and forced a corner of his mouth to turn up just slightly.

"Don't avoid me again, okay?"

Sakuno nodded, and made a mock salute. "I promise I won't. Not after we just cleared things up just now. We're good already!"

Ryoma nodded, and watched as she continued her way upstairs, her steps having an extra bounce in them. He yawned as he heard the door to her room open and closed a heartbeat later, before he turned off the lights and went straight to his room.


	5. Chapter 4

**Be My Daddy**

A/N: I deeply apologize if I've taken such a long time to update, ya know, classes and stuff. I really have nothing else to say except that I'm sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own PoT, Konomi-sensei does.

**WARNING! : there will be crude language in this chapter.**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 4: Because He Was Awesome Like That<strong>

He was never one to be a morning person, especially if his mornings would be interrupted with the shrill ringing of the cell phone sitting lonely on top of the bedside table.

Groaning at the high-pitched noise, Ryoma threw a pillow he had been cradling the night before over his head, trying in vain to drown out the sound. The ringing became muffled, and he started to drift back off into his dream land, where Sakuno was dressed in a black-and-white maid outfit. The miniskirt she was wearing rode up her thighs, giving Ryoma an eyeful of her slim legs in white, thigh-high lace socks. She was just about to feed him grapes when he was jarred into wakefulness as the phone started ringing again, closer to his ear this time.

He suddenly felt as if something stirred somewhere near his feet, but he ignored it as he reached out for another pillow which had fallen off the bed during his slumber to be thrown over his head; arms tightening around both pillows. When the sound stopped a few moments later only to be ringing again almost immediately, curses spilled from his mouth as a hand shot out from beneath the blankets. The tanned hand nearly took out the bedside lamp, before long fingers closed over the annoying ringing appliance. A head peeked out from under the two pillows, and a moment later, a voice, rough from lack of sleep and unguarded irritation sounded from beneath the sheets with the simple demand,

"What the fuck do you want?"

"Is that how you talk to your old man?"

Scowling at nothing in particular, Ryoma tossed a pillow away, which had then hit the door. "Yeah."

He could hear the fake gasp Nanjiroh made, and fought from rolling his eyes when Nanjiroh spoke up.

"How could you? Oh, wait, maybe I interrupted you? Oh... Oh,.. Oh my god! Ryoma Echizen!"

Ryoma considered snapping his phone shut when his dad's next words spilled out.

"Don't tell me you're in bed with Sakuno-chan? I'm REALLY sorry, son! Daddy didn't know you were still -"

"Huh? What the-"

Amber eyes widened, and Ryoma pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it incredulously. He could still hear Nanjiroh's exceptionally loud voice, talking about things he would rather not hear so early in the morning.

"Stupid old man! I'm not in bed with anyone, you perverted monk!"

Nanjiroh abruptly stopped, and Ryoma wondered for a second why on earth he had even picked up Nanjiroh's call in the first place.

_He must've changed his number again, damn old pervert._

His brief musings were interrupted when he heard Nanjiroh speaking up, sounding all depressed and disappointed.

"Man, and I thought you'd finally bring back grandkids for me... I mean, I don't really care if you guys get married after the kid comes but... "

Ryoma could feel the beginning of a headache coming, something that wasn't even there in the first place, if only he hadn't picked up Nanjiroh's call. Belatedly, he began to regret not just plucking the battery out of the appliance before he slept the night before.

"Is that it? Don't you have Ryoga to give you babies right now? Anyway, I'm hanging up."

The shrill voice of Nanjiroh telling him to 'WAAAAIIIIT!' made him bite back a curse before he decided to just give his dad one more chance, because he was awesome that way.

"You have ten seconds Oyaji. I need my sleep, damn it."

Nanjiroh sniggered from the other line before he spoke up between bits of bubbling laughter, making Ryoma wonder what was so funny.

"How long are ya gonna be there?"

He tucked a hand underneath the hem of his shirt and scratched an itchy spot on his belly before he yawned and answered his dad. "Three months, tops. I just wanna get away from all the craziness in the States."

"Aw, come on. It's not that bad, right?"

Ryoma brows furrowed. "It is. They keep pestering me about girls. I hate it."

"Well, that's better than them saying you're gay."

"I'm not gay." He said through gritted teeth. The sound of Nanjiroh laughing made him gnash his teeth, trying not to curse so early in the morning. Not that he hadn't done that first thing when he was woken up rudely by the ringing phone.

"Three seconds left."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just calling to check up on you, ya know. I need something to make up a story that's gonna chase those press guys away when they come here."

"By 'something', you mean digging up a little dirt form me, huh?"

"Yep."

Ryoma immediately snapped his phone shut, dug out the battery and tossed the empty cell phone onto the bedside table. He didn't even bother to tell his dad to shut his mouth or even a rude 'goodbye, old fart'. Satisfied, he rolled over onto his stomach and his eyes drifted to close again...

...only to snap open a few milliseconds later when he heard a giggle from the foot of his bed, under the covers. He noticed the small bump underneath the covers and nudged it with his foot.

A snort, and then another giggle.

"That tickles, Ryoma-chan."

He was still sleepy when a small head poked out from under the covers, and that was when his brows drew together into a frown.

"What're you doing underneath the covers?"

Choutarou grinned and sat up cross-legged before he shrugged. "Chouta wanted to sleep with you."

Ryoma glanced towards the bedside clock on the far end of the bedside table. _It's only eight in the morning... _He turned towards the yawning Choutarou and suppressed a sigh.

"Hey, you know-"

He didn't even get to voice out half of his opinion when suddenly there were hurried footsteps from outside his room, seconds before his door flung open and a frantic-looking Sakuno popped into his view.

"O-Oh my god, Cho-Choutarou! Y-You're late for school!"

The previously sleepy and grinning Choutarou suddenly looked as frantic as his Mama when it dawned upon him that it was school day. Within a few seconds, Choutarou leapt out of the bed, and hurried to the bathroom, swerving expertly around Sakuno to avoid a head-on collision. Sakuno, on the other hand, spent a good five seconds looking around Ryoma's room pretty much like a deer caught in the headlights, before she finally snapped out of it and carelessly spun around to return to her room. The door slammed unintentionally, and left Ryoma blinking at the closed door.

Letting out a sigh, he fell back into the bed. Just as his back hit the soft mattress, Sakuno's head popped in. He didn't even have the time to react when she smiled apologetically, bed hair and all.

"I'm so sorry, I k-kind of woke up late..."

"Mama! I can't find my boxers!"

Sakuno made an 'eh?' before she went after Chotarou, leaving Ryoma's door slightly ajar. Ryoma could hear Sakuno making sounds of panic as she scurried around for the mysterious missing boxers when he heard her tell Chotarou –unsurely- that she might have forgotten to do laundry.

There was a loud bang, and a dog barking.

Then he heard Sakuno calling out to Chotarou in relief, and told the seven-year old that the boxers were in the dryer.

Unintentionally, Ryoma felt the first tugging of a faint smile. He could live like this, waking up to a flustered Sakuno, bed hair covering one eye and the sound of Yukio barking all over the place to make Chotarou hurry up. It felt... family-ish.

He heard Sakuno fretting over the car keys when Ryoma decided that he might as well get dressed and do something to help so that Sakuno doesn't blow her head off. As he stood up and closed the door to his room, he shamelessly admitted to himself that he wouldn't even lift a finger if she had been someone else. But hell, this was Sakuno he was talking about.

It was also because he knew he was awesome like that.

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"Oh gosh, d-did I just-"

"You drove past the red light again, Ryuzaki. Slow down, he's gonna be late anyway."

Sakuno didn't seem to be listening when he noticed her driving past a junction that she should have taken.

"Oi, Ryuzaki. You just-"

"Mama's taking the shortcut."

Chotarou, who had been strapped to the back seat excitedly chirped, as if he was cool with Sakuno's driving skills. Ryoma, on the other hand, had his seatbelt on, but he still feared for his life. The Sakuno he knew was a klutz, and Sakuno driving did not bode well for him.

"We're almost here, Chotarou. Get your bag ready."

Ryoma was about to ask "we are?" when she made a sharp turn and jammed on the brakes. It was then that Ryoma actually felt as if his heart was about to jump out of his mouth.

"Jesus, Ryuzaki."

Sakuno smiled apologetically before she turned off the ignition and hurried out of the car, helping Chotarou with his stuff. Dumbfounded, Ryoma looked around as he stepped off the vehicle and all he could see were trees, and the fence of the school backyard. Sakuno turned around to him and put a finger over her lips before she led both him and Chotarou to a secluded area. They stopped before a hole on the fence which could easily fit the youngest boy. As if they had done it a million times, Ryoma watched in misplaced amazement as Chotarou fluidly squeezed through the hole and as Sakuno handed the boy his bag and bento box. She managed to give a flying kiss to Chotarou, and a dazzling smile before the boy disappeared.

When Sakuno turned to look at him, he made a face that said: you-are-a-mother-and-you-just-helped-your-kid-sneak-into-school-that-was-freaking-cool-ish.

She answered with a silly smile, a blush, and a timid shrug before they both tried to hold in their laughter.

"Seriously?"

Sakuno scratched the back of her head, and her messed bun nearly went undone. "Well, I had to. We don't usually do this though."

Ryoma smirked. "If your grandmother had known she would probably kill you."

The woman giggled, and her blush came back. "No, she wouldn't. Though you might try telling her to see what she would do."

She saw him raising a brow, and she quickly continued, "But you wouldn't tell her, right?"

Well, if Sakuno had been someone else, he would have told Sumire Ryuzaki about the little secret.

But this was Sakuno. So he automatically answered to her query.

"Of course."

Sakuno smiled again, and he decided that if he was lucky enough, maybe he would wake up to that smiling face every day. "Ryoma-kun, you're my other partner in crime."

He nodded, his faint smile growing a little bit more. "Yeah."

Ryoma stayed where he stood for a few seconds, watching as Sakuno walked back towards her car. As she got ready to drive, he called out to her.

"Hey, Ryuzaki. Let me drive."

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"Is it here?"

Sakuno nodded, and after checking her purse, she walked out of the car and into a flower shop. Ryoma turned off the ignition, and followed her into the shop.

"U-Um… hello, is anyone here?"

"A minute!" a voice from the back of the shop answered.

A few minutes of waiting, an old man with an eye patch covering his left eye emerged from behind the counter. Despite how he looked, his friendly smile made Sakuno smile as equally as friendly. Ryoma, not being well-versed in the smiling department, nodded to the owner.

"Sakuno-chan! And who's this young man? Perhaps your boyfriend? Good looking, I can see."

Sakuno blushed, and quickly shook her head.

Ryoma wondered if it was THAT repulsive to date him.

"No no no, I'm sorry b-but he's not. He's obaa-chan's ex-student. He's helping me out on some errands. U-Um, Ryoma-kun, this is Haru-san."

"Hello, Ryoma-kun. Nice to meet you."

Ryoma answered with an awkward nod.

The old man turned to Sakuno again. "So, what's it this time? We just brought in fresh pink roses if that's what you want."

Sakuno took out a list, and shook her head.

"No, not pink roses today. But I do need yellow roses, 250 of them. And some white ones for the altar."

Haru took out a notepad, wrote down her order and looked up to ask, "When do you need 'em?"

Sakuno put up three fingers. "Third of September. Is that ok?"

The old man smiled.

"I'll try, pumpkin. I'll give you a call this weekend yeah?"

"Okay. Thank you so much. Do you mind if I walk around for a while?"

Haru nodded, and pinned the paper with her order onto a soft board near the counter. He watched as Ryoma stood at a spot, watching a small bird as it landed on the edge of a flower pot. He waited until Sakuno went to look at the daisies, and spoke up.

"You're that famous kid, right?"

Startled, Ryoma blinked at the old man. "Um, maybe on the sports channel, yeah."

The man with the eye patch laughed good-naturedly. "You're quite funny, kid."

No, he did not like to think himself as funny.

And he wasn't a kid. He was 25 for god's sake.

"Ya like her?"

"Huh?"

Ryoma frowned. "What did you say?"

The old man flashed a toothy grin. "Ya like Sakuno-chan don't you?"

Echizen Ryoma does not blush. He never blushed. Well, maybe sometimes. He didn't even know it himself. But at that time, he could have sworn his ears turn hot.

"I uh… I just…"

Haru seemed to enjoy watching Ryoma struggle for words.

"'S okay, I understand. Who wouldn't, right? Such an angel, she is. Not a lot of young women nowadays are brave and strong enough to take care of that Choutaro boy."

Ryoma looked at where Sakuno was standing a few moments ago. "So you know about Choutaro."

The shopkeeper nodded, a fatherly smile on his face.

"Rumors spread fast here, young man. Especially in a small town like this, some old women didn't really like the fact that Sakuno-chan was taking care of a kid out of wedlock. And some suitors were turned down the omiai when they heard about Choutaro. Life hasn't really been easy for them."

Sakuno came back with a few pink and yellow daisies. "Haru-san, I'll have these please."

"Sure thing pumpkin."

He wrapped the daisies nicely into a bouquet and gave it to a smiling Sakuno.

"Thank you, see you again Haru-san."

"Okay, be careful now!"

Ryoma started to follow Sakuno out of the shop when he stopped and turned to look at the old man.

"I'll protect her and Choutaro. So don't worry anymore."

He gave a nod and the old man smiled back. Before he turned around, the man called out to him.

"Hey, better hurry up before someone snatches her away, young lad."

Ryoma smirked. "Not gonna happen."

And he walked out of the shop.

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Sakuno waited in the car. She took a whiff of the daisies, and smiled up at him as he entered the driver's seat.

"What? Are daisies that good?"

Sakuno laughed, and the sound of her laughter _tickled_ his ears and just warmed up his chest.

"Yep, they are. Now let's go to the photography studio on-"

"Wait, hold on. What are you? An event planner or something?"

"I'm a wedding planner. That way, I can be there at home while I work."

He gave her an amazed look. "That's clever."

She blushed, and he nearly chuckled. "Th-Thank you."

"Photography studio, huh?"

"Y-yes, please."

"Oh, and Ryuzaki?"

She tilted her head at him, as he stopped at the red light.

"I like you."

She gasped, and then he could see her blush from the corner of his eye. The bouquet of daisies that she had been holding was nearly crushed under her grasp.

"B-But.. Why?"

Ryoma shrugged, and made a turn into a junction. "Can't I?"

Sakuno swallowed hard and bit her lip. Her voice was almost a whisper when she spoke up. "You don't even know if I even like you."

Raising a brow, he smirked. "No. I know you like me. You adore me don't you?"

At that point, her face was almost scarlet. "H-How c-can y-you say th-that? D-Do you know h-how arrogant y-you sound?"

He stopped in front of the gate, shift the gear into park and turned off the ignition. In a relaxed manner, he turned to her.

"You like me. And I you."

Sakuno was about to protest when she noticed him getting closer to her. "W-What?"

He face stopped a few inches before hers, and his eyes lowered to her pink lips.

"You're beautiful."

"A-am I now?"

He smirked, and at that moment she felt like kissing him. Her face turn redder at that thought. When he nodded, she looked up at him.

"Th-Thank you."

"Yep. You're welcome."

"O-Okay."

Their faces were still close, and neither made a move. So Ryoma decided to ruffle her a bit more.

"I like you."

Sakuno nearly cried of embarrassment. "L-Like I said, w-why?"

Ryoma inched closer to her until his lips barely touched hers. She could feel his lips brush against hers slightly as he said,

"Because I'm the awesome Echizen Ryoma."


End file.
